The Republicans have released their "Hail Mary" play for the mid-term
elections, and it's called "The Pledge To America." To
describe this as a cynical effort to dupe the American people would
be an insult to cynics and con men everywhere. The GOP has dealt the
cards as the house, and they are hoping and praying that the American
people will make a Sucker's Bet in November.

What is a "Sucker's Bet"? It's a gamble that someone makes based on a
false view of the odds. The gambler believes he has a higher
likelihood of winning than he actually does. In most cases, the
sucker does not realize he is being put at a disadvantage. It's not
until the gamblers come up short that they realize that the house
always wins.

So what's this particular "Sucker's Bet?" It will happen when
the American people believe the Republicans and vote for them based
upon what the media is telling them is in The Pledge To
America. I say that because the Pledge is 21 pages long. Very few
Americans will actually read it... they'll just believe what the
media tells them it says. Americans will actually believe that these
charlatans in DC want to obey the Constitution and will act
accordingly in every way.

The Republicans are SAYING all the right Conservative things to
America in the Pledge in a desperate plea to regain control of
Congress. They know that Americans hold Congress members in lower
esteem than even drug dealers, child molesters and used car salesmen.
And they also know that all they have to do to win over most
Americans is SAY the right things. America seldom watches the things
that the Republicans DO, and holds them accountable for their tyranny
and perfidy even less often.

This Pledge is not about legal, moral or ethical governance. It is a
desperate ploy to regain control... and power.

The Republicans have heard the sermon... so to speak, and are
entering the confessional booth. They have written a 21-page
confession of their many sins. Let's hit the highlights... or the new
heights in low.

The general overview of the Pledge is that the Republicans... using
the inclusive term "Washington"... have confessed to the crimes of
violating the Constitution over decades. May we now prosecute them?

Here is a quote from page one:

"In a self-governing society, the only bulwark against the
power of the state is the consent of the governed, and regarding the
policies of the current government, the governed do not consent.
An unchecked executive, a compliant legislature, and an overreaching
judiciary have combined to thwart the will of the people and overturn
their votes and their values, striking down long-standing laws and
institutions and scorning the deepest beliefs of the American people.
An arrogant and out-of-touch government of self-appointed elites
makes decisions, issues mandates, and enacts laws without accepting
or requesting the input of the many."

The "deepest beliefs of the American people" don't matter one whit.
If you believe that the United States Constitution is the supreme law
of the land, then law is supreme to all beliefs. And Washington has
flouted the law for at least 160 years.

Here are more excerpts from pages one and two, with my comments in
bold:

"With this document, we pledge to dedicate ourselves to the task
of reconnecting our highest aspirations to the permanent truths of
our founding by keeping faith with the values our nation was founded
on, the principles we stand for, and the priorities of our people.
This is our Pledge to America. Look at all the warm fuzzy words
here which are devoid of definitions. The words they used are
cleverly crafted to evoke feelings, but mean nothing.

"We pledge to honor the Constitution as constructed by its framers
and honor the original intent of those precepts that have been
consistently ignoredparticularly the Tenth Amendment, which
grants that all powers not delegated to the United States by the
Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the
states respectively, or to the people."What does it mean to honor
the Constitution? There is not one word of commitment to abiding by
the law, nor what penalty they would anticipate when the Constitution
is violated.

"We pledge to advance policies that promote greater liberty, wider
opportunity, a robust defense, and national economic prosperity." Dear God, where do I start? (a) to promote greater liberty,
decades of regulation and taxation have to be cast aside. Property
rights have to be once again protected. (b) promoting wider
opportunity is much the same as (a), (c) promote a robust defense is
clearly undefined... as we'll see later in the article, and (d)
promote national economic prosperity goes right back to (a). It is
impossible for Washington to promote any of these four features
without slashing the size of Washington's government down to its
Constitutionally-authorized size.

"We pledge to honor families, traditional marriage, life, and the
private and faith-based organizations that form the core of our
American values."Once again, what does it mean to "honor"
anything? The Federal Government has no business whatsoever being
involved in any of these four human behaviors.

"We pledge to make government more transparent in its actions,
careful in its stewardship, and honest in its dealings." Being
transparent, careful and honest would be great things. But they give
no details, and do not recognize that others in government might
disagree with their interpretations of moral good.

"We pledge to uphold the purpose and promise of a better America,
knowing that to whom much is given, much is expected and that the
blessings of our liberty buoy the hopes of mankind."Once again,
warm fuzzy words cleverly crafted to illicit feelings. I don't want
them to manipulate my feelings. I want them to obey the law. My
feelings will get REAL warm and fuzzy when I'm not regulated and
taxed to death and beyond.

"We make this pledge bearing true faith and allegiance to the people
we represent, and we invite fellow citizens and patriots to join us
in forming a new governing agenda for America."Washington,
you've ALL already taken an Oath of Office in which you swore you
would protect and defend the Constitution. Does your Pledge have the
weight of law? Why should we believe that you'll keep your Pledge
when you haven't kept your Oath?

Now let's look at key points on various pages of this vacuous Pledge
To America:

Page four: First, their very words prove that they have no
concept of what jobs are. They think jobs are things that can be
magically created... not the labor component of a product or service
when a business fills a market need. They pledge to create jobs by
stopping tax hikes and "allowing" small business to have a 20% tax
deduction. They still think that small business' income belongs to
them, and they are going to "allow" them to keep more. Nothing here
about scrapping the IRS and the income tax.

They will repeal the new health care law, and "rein in the red-tape
factory." Not a word about repealing decades of monstrous regulation
by all the Federal bureaucracies presently existing. They only want
to restrict NEW regulations.

Page five: They pledge to roll back government spending to
"pre-stimulus, pre-bailout levels, saving us $100 Billion in the
first year... " That's only 4% of a $2.5 Trillion budget... and we
all know that Washington spends a lot more off-budget. Nothing is
said about slashing spending below a couple trillion a year.

They pledge to reform the budget process. They pledge to require any
bill introduced to Congress to have Constitutional authority
attached. But they didn't say that they would throw out all bills not
meeting Constitutional muster. Further, most of the stuff done over
the last 150 years was done under the Commerce Clause. So is someone
going to begin interpreting original intent of the Constitution?
Deadly silence about that, folks. And they pledge that Congress
members will have a whopping THREE DAYS to read any new bill before a
vote.

They pledge to keep the Guantanamo base open to house the "enemy
combatants" captured in a non-declared war. They pledge to "fully
support" our troops scattered over the globe, fully fund missile
defense, and enforce sanctions against Iran. Nothing here about
bringing ALL foreign-based military personnel home inside American
borders and minding our own business. And the pledge to "act
decisively" to protect our borders... whatever the hell that means.

Page tenthirteen: They SAY they want a "fact-based
conversation" with America about reigning in Federal Spending. But
until the Feds disclose all their spending this is Bullshyt. Page
eleven talks about cutting spending to pre-stimulus levels. That's
all? They talk about a hard cap on NEW discretionary spending. What
about rolling back OLD discretionary spending? In addition, within a
few years, just the interest on the Federal debt will be greater than
ALL discretionary spending. Not a word about that.

Page fourteen: Repeal the new health care law. But they want
to write their own new reforms, not just leave the medical insurance
industry alone. Remember that this subject is all about MEDICAL
INSURANCE, not health care.

Page seventeen and eighteen: Reforming Congress. Incredibly,
their reform is to have Congress read the bills and adhere to the
Constitution. Merely obeying the law is considered reform for
Congress.

Page nineteen: National Security at home and abroad. The
Republicans still cannot see nor will admit that terrorism exists
because we have troops in foreign lands, and those nations' citizens
want our troops to leave. So, Republicans pledge to continue policies
such as Homeland Security, fully-funded foreign military missions,
and sanctions against Iran, predicated upon monstrous government lies.

Page twenty: Republicans think that our problems lie in
strengthening visa security and gaining operational control of our
borders... which really means the Mexican border. But there is not a
word in here about not interfering with Southwestern states as they
secure their borders .

Page twenty one: The stated, written summary of the pledge is
that the Republicans intend to be the "Checks And Balances" against
schemes that are against the "priorities and rights of the American
people." There is not one word here about the STATES being the checks
and balances of a runaway Washington government. They still think
it's ALL ABOUT THEM!!!

My concluding comments: There is not a word in this Pledge
about auditing the Federal Reserve... or stripping the central bank
of its authority... or auditing the US gold supply... or saving the
dollar... or paying off the trillions of dollars of debt. Monetary
policy is what will cause the collapse of the American economy, with
the assistance of Congressional cupidity and stupidity.

The GOP wants to blame all America's ills on the Democrats and the
Obama Administration. Look at all the times that the Republicans
controlled the Congress in the last twenty years. Then add in the
years that the Republicans controlled the Congress and the White
House. Where were all these commitments when they had all the power?
Did spending, regulation, national debt and war-making all diminish
in those years? Did stimulus spending start with a Republican
President or a Democrat President?

Further, even if the Republicans swept back into the Congressional
majority in both houses, there is the tiny complication of the
Democrats in the minority. The system will not change. Republicans
dominating Congress will not substantively affect the gigantic
Federal bureaucracies that rumble along unimpeded.

Remember the old adage, "Actions speak louder than words."

Also remember the definition of the word "credulous." The
readiness or willingness to believe, especially upon slight or
uncertain evidence."

The "Pledge to America" are the words of ideologues, harkening back
to real Conservatism. These are the principals of men who will not
compromise. These are the ways that statesmen would behave. Men and
women of these very principles would hold these principles as
inviolable, and would never negotiate their principles away to get a
bill passed.

However, we know these men and women who populate the Republican
Party of 2010. All they do is compromise. Their actions are as far
removed from this Pledge as night is from day. In the years in which
their held the Congress, or in the years in which they held the
Congress AND the White House, they did not accomplish ANY of these
things which they now name as their bedrock principles.

But they want Americans to believe that they have now seen the
light... that God met them on the mountain, and they are bringing us
the new tablets scrolled in God's own handwriting. The masses WANT TO
BELIEVE. The Tea Partiers, the Tenth Amendment guys, the Article V
enthusiasts, the Glenn Beck fans, the Rush dittoheads... they ALL
want to believe that American can be saved. So, for the most part,
this farcical Kabuki theater will convince the credulous Americans.

Finally... if you read the Pledge To America, do you see any
signatures of any Republicans affixed below the pledges? This 21-page
piece of fiction is neither contract nor treaty. There is no force of
law behind it. There are no penalties for non-compliance. These are
the ramblings of deluded men and women who will say anything to
regain the power they once enjoyed and abused. Just like the lowest
heroin addict or the most pathetic crystal meth user, there is
nothing they would not do to get another power fix. They will sell
themselves and you and all our children to get back the power.

No, Ladies and Gentlemen. A pledge is not sufficient as the hope for
liberty here in America. Keeping the United States together as a
hopelessly broken Empire is not the answer.

Russell D. Longcore is an insurance claims consultant based in
Marietta, Georgia. He is the author of the hot-selling book,
"Insurance Claim Secrets REVEALED!" which has been a Number
One book at Amazon continuously since October 2007. His second
book, "Commercial Insurance Claim Secrets REVEALED!" has just
been released in Ebook format."

Russell also owns www.InsuranceQuoteHQ.com, an insurance quote
service offering competitive insurance quotes for every kind
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